Tuesday, September 25, 2007

"...Nothing beats the James Brown version from his 1970 LP Soul on Top, on which he was backed up by the Louis Bellson Big Band, with arrangements by Oliver Nelson.

September Song was written by Weill (with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson) for the 1938 musical Knickerbocker Holiday. Walter Huston (father of John, Granddad of Angelica) introduced the song when he played Pieter Stuyvesant in the original production, and scored a hit with the 78 version of it while the show was still in its first run.

In the play, the peg-legged Stuyvesant sings the song to Tina, the lovely Town Councilor's daughter, in the hope of rushing her into marriage against her better judgment. Peg-leg Pete uses the shortening days of September and the onset of winter to convince Tina to give herself to him and not to his rival, Brom Broeck. (Tina marries Broek in the end.)

Another irony of the song that's been lost in it's many years as an American pop standard is that it's sung by a villain. In Knickerbocker Holiday, Stuyvesant is a stand-in for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who the pacifist/anarchist Maxwell Anderson saw as an exponent of American fascism."

Friday, September 21, 2007

Daft Punk is not playing at my house......but I really, really wish LCD Sound System would play in my neck of the woods. Check this live video clip from Coachella earlier this year, Looks like a lotta fun. Please, someone bring over to NZ. LINK.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Auckland venue in trouble?Have just heard a report that there's an official-looking notice stuck to the door of Auckland venue The Studio, dated 17 September, something about it being placed in receivership. If you've bought tickets for upcoming gigs at this venue, you may want to contact the ticket sellers and find out what's happening. I'm guessing that any international gigs coming up there may be transferred to the St James, which is reopening next month.

Friday, September 14, 2007

I know you got soulRIP Bobby Byrd, legendary James Brown sideman/vocalist. More here.

Speaking of the funk, dodgy US teen movie Superbad has got a killer soundtrack - not only some local contributions from Dawn Raid's Mareko and Alphrisk, but also members of The JBs (James Brown's band), Parliament and Funkadelic. Here's a clip of Jabo Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrall and more, jamming like crazy. Video over here. Go watch these guys groove out, they a bunch of funky-ass old dudes.

Chicago 70s funk outfit Piece of Peace get rediscovered by US label Quannum Projects. Check it here (audio too). "The story goes that in 1971 they recorded their only LP, and got offered a Southeast Asia tour. It was on this trip, in Singapore, that Pieces of Peace disbanded and went crawling back home.

Some say it was homesickness, others claim it was stress dealing with agents, but regardless the band was broken up, and their LP was shelved. That's where Quannum enters the picture, dusts off this gem of an album, and gives back a piece of music history to the world."

Top Five TunesBob Marley - Sun Is Shining (Dj Dolores Remix)Guts - And the living is easyMr Vegas - Lean wid itBacao rhythm and steel band - Look-a-py-pyPinchers - Bandolero

Top Five Ways TVNZ will Ruin The Final Credits of The Sopranos1 Interrupt the music with a twee voiceover telling you what's next on TVNZ.2 Squeeze the credits into the right of your screen til they're unreadable, and play a promo ad for what's replacing the Sopranos. Like you care.3 Put a promo BETWEEN the final scene and the end credits.4 oh...5 I give up, you fill in the rest. Come on....